


Explosion

by akitcougar



Series: We are the heroes (of our time) [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: 500-word limit, Well that escalated quickly, power explosions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4749413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akitcougar/pseuds/akitcougar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this was based on the same thing elentari7 did with <i>White Room</i>, which was 500 word maximum. Also like her, I experimented with second-person narration, which helped me get into the head of the character.</p><p>Basically, with disuse ranging from a couple months to a few years, powers build up until they reach their explosion point. An explosion is the most violent, powerful, and uncontrolled expression of a power, breaking even the normal limits a person has.</p></blockquote>





	Explosion

Your powers were the worst thing that ever happened to you.

You were a stressed-out student in college, barely having time in between the protests and the classes to even think about what having a power meant. Your best friend insisted you experiment with it like every other allohuman (you _refused_ to call them capes or superheroes when they were not any more heroic than other people), and you half-heartedly did so, but when the two of you drifted apart, you stopped.

It was just never that important. There were so many other things to do, and never enough time.

It was creepy to feel the thrum of blood every time you brushed up against someone in the subway, but you learned to ignore it. They never noticed, after all, and fitting in was easier.

You hoped that, if you didn’t use them, they would just go away.

* * *

You got a job as a reporter, your dream since childhood.

The fact that it was at a tabloid was irrelevant, though you did keep applying elsewhere in the meantime. Your powers were gone. You never noticed people brushing against you anymore.

 _Thrum_.

You wake up with an obnoxious headache. You take some medicine and leave for work. You want a paycheck. Your boss wants a story on some new superhero.

_Thrum. Thrum._

The headache only gets worse. You suffer through the subway as you get to Alphabet City.

_Thrum. Thrum. Thrum._

There’s the new hero, surrounded by a crowd of adoring fans. If you weren’t here for work, you would scoff at their stupid _worship_ of someone’s power. Unearned power was inherently unfair. You ignore them other than to force your way through the crowd, trying to reach the hero for a quick one-liner.

_Thrum. Thrum. Thrum. Thrum._

Your headache swells, overtaking everything else. The sense of the crowd overwhelms you, and someone’s shoulder brushes against your bare hand.

In one single, brief moment of clarity as the headache cuts out, you realize your powers never went away.

Your control did.

The power ripples outward in a bubble, latching onto every atom of H2O in the area, stretching as far as it will go. All the water vapor, all the sewer water, all the blood in the bodies of the others in the crowd, even your own bloodstream. You feel it start to pull before the bubble collapses, pulling it all towards you.

You scream, barely holding yourself together as you rip people apart. The blood swells up, a red, howling, twisting maelstrom in the middle of the street. You’re splattered, drenched with dripping dark liquid whose stain will haunt you, never fully washing off.

It releases, the power expended, and you stand alone in a sea of shit and blood, stark white bones standing out from the deep red that will haunt your nightmares for decades.

You lost control.

You vow never to lose it again.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was based on the same thing elentari7 did with _White Room_ , which was 500 word maximum. Also like her, I experimented with second-person narration, which helped me get into the head of the character.
> 
> Basically, with disuse ranging from a couple months to a few years, powers build up until they reach their explosion point. An explosion is the most violent, powerful, and uncontrolled expression of a power, breaking even the normal limits a person has.


End file.
